


You're Beside Me

by jrjsunflowers



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2019-09-05 14:32:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16812568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jrjsunflowers/pseuds/jrjsunflowers
Summary: Cyrus learns more about the cruel king's heir to the throne. TJ learns more about the world he lives in;





	1. Chapter One

Cyrus took a deep breath as the wind rustled the tall grass surrounding him. The air felt heavy and there were dark clouds in the distance. There was a slightly cool breeze contrasting with the blazing sun above them. 

He could already picture himself covering his ears and crying as thunder boomed outside of their house. 

Across the field, he heard footsteps heading in his direction and squinted as he peeled his arm off his forehead. He wiped the sweat that formed on his shirt and focused his eyes to find Andi, Buffy, and a boy who looked to be their age. 

He was grinning ear to ear as Andi and Buffy explained more about their little group. 

“Cyrus, this is Jonah,” she offered her hand to help him up. 

“He’s interested in joining us,” she smiled and took a step forward. “Came at the perfect time, huh?” She whispered in his ear. 

“No kidding,” he whispered back. “I’m Cyrus,” he extended his hand for a handshake. 

“You have a dragon?” His eyes flickered to the side and he returned the handshake with a slight tremble. 

“Oh,” he looked over his shoulder. “Yeah.” 

Luna was quietly stalking towards him. 

“Sneaky girl,” he crouched down and she ran towards him. 

The sun reflected on her pearly scales and was almost blinding. For a moment it looked as though there was a flash of purple along with the white and he couldn’t tell if he was hallucinating it. 

“We’re going to leave you guys to it,” Andi linked her arm with Buffy’s. “When you’re ready Cyrus will take you in to meet everyone.” 

They whispered to each other as they headed towards the small house a few feet across the field. 

“This is Luna,” he put his hand on her nose to prevent her from moving suddenly and scaring him. “You can pet her if you’d like.” 

He reached his hand out carefully and jerked it back the second it made contact. “Sorry,” he swallowed and replaced his hand. “It feels different than I thought it would,” he chuckled. “How long have you had her?”

He stroked his thumb across her head. “She was my mom’s best friend before she died,” he closed his eyes as the memory hit him. 

“I’m sorry,” he rushed out. “I didn’t mean to pry.” 

“You didn’t,” he shook his head. 

He looked into her eye and admired the way the gold flecks contrasted with the green.

“If you don’t mind me asking,” he let his sentence trail off. “How did you afford her?” He glanced over his shoulder at the tiny shack they're staying in.

“She didn't buy her,” his mouth lifted in a half smile. “She bonded with Luna before she even had me. I guess she never cared for animals growing up,” he rubbed his thumb back and forth as he spoke. “And one day she was lost in the forest, eight months pregnant, and she fell. She thought she was dead but she was trying to remember her way home for my sake. Luna came out of nowhere and encouraged her to climb on her back. She flew us home.” 

“Wow,” he played with the fabric of his shirt. “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost either of my moms.” 

“Yeah,” he shook his head and put on a disarming smile. “So now I take care of her.” 

“So is it like a stray cat? Like you feed her and she keeps coming back.” 

“Well, Luna would kill you if she could understand you,” he looked up as he tried to think of a way to explain it. “We don’t have enough food for ourselves some days so we obviously don’t have enough to spare for them. It’s more about love. She’s loyal to us.” 

“You’re so lucky,” he took a step back. “Oh,” he jerked his head up. “In the palace, they ride them. Do you get to ride her?” 

“Yeah, but not in the way you think,” he walked over to her neck. “In the palace, they have something that clamps around their jaws like this,” he wrapped his hands delicately around her jaw. “And forces their heads up until they can’t touch the ground and are forced to fly.” He walked over to her wing. “And then they use a belt that hooks around the wings and digs into their sides. It’s very painful but becomes excruciating if they turn.” He looked up at him. “Or throw them off… Which they absolutely would do if they were given the option,” he glanced up and tilted his head forward. “My mom used to work at the palace before joining the rebellion.” 

“I had no idea,” he wrapped his arms around himself. “What do you use?” 

“I have a little belt with handles in the house. It’s painless, don’t worry.” 

“Do you think we could ride?” Jonah tried and failed to calm the excitement in his voice. 

“I’m sorry, I don’t do that with anyone anymore,” he frowned and rubbed his neck.

“Of course,” he nodded. “I get that.” 

Luna looked back and him and clicked her tongue, signifying she was ready to go out to look for food. 

He nodded to her. 

“You ready to meet everyone else?” He looked up at him. 

“Okay,” he straightened his shoulders. “I hope they like me.” 

“You’ll be fine,” he put his hand on his shoulder as they made their way across the field. 

There was a small woosh of air as Luna took off and headed towards the forest. 

He cracked the door open slowly to make sure he didn’t hit anyone in their cramped cabin. 

Andi was hunched over the desk running her hands through her hair as she looked over their plans. Marty and Libby were having a conversation in the back. Buffy was sitting sideways in her chair with her hands resting on her stomach. Walker was sprawled out on the floor drawing another picture of Andi.

“Everyone, this is Jonah,” he signed along with speaking. “I don’t know if Andi and Buffy filled you in but he’s going to be joining us.” 

“Come by us,” Marty signaled for him to sit next to him. “Libby will teach you some of the basics.”

“Basics of what?” He asked as he took a step over Walker and made his way over to them. 

“Sign language,” he tugged his arm to sit next to him. 

“I’m Libby,” she signed slowly to him. “Do you still have the alphabet I had Walker make?” Her hands moved fluidly when talking to Marty.

“Oh right,” he jumped up. “One second.”

Cyrus let their conversation fade into the background as he took a seat across from Andi. 

“I know that look,” he softened his voice as he observed the stress radiating off of her. 

“Nothing new,” she sighed and let her shoulders drop. “I have no idea if this half baked plan will work.” 

“Hey,” he put his arm on her shoulder. “You’ve never had to do the planning before, give yourself some slack.” 

“What if it fails,” her voice wavered. “And I get everyone captured.” 

“Well,” he looked around at the group. “We’ll be okay. We’re a team and that’s what you need to remember. It doesn’t all fall on your shoulders now that Bex is gone,” he smiled and nudged her. “And if we do get captured I think we could rock some prison jumpsuits.” 

Andi’s hard face softened as she laughed. “Yeah? I’ve been meaning to try that look out.” 

“There’s your smile,” he pulled her into a hug. “We’ve all missed it.” 

“So when do we get to kick into action,” Jonah flopped down into the chair next to them.

He attempted to look at the plans Andi had laying out on the desk. 

“Soon,” she shuffled up the papers and held them close to her chest. 

“Well, why not right now?” He was practically bouncing in his chair. 

“We’ll explain it later,” Andi bit back. 

“Touchy subject, dude,” Marty spoke up from his search.

“Why?” 

“We just don’t have anything going on for a while,” Walker stood up and placed his hand on Andi’s back. “Which is good for you. You can get trained before getting out there.” 

“Is there some reason?” Jonah prodded. 

“Just drop it, okay?” Andi yelled as she stood up. 

Everyone was quiet and she stormed out and let the door slam behind her. 

“I’m gonna,” Walker motioned towards the door as he headed after her. 

“I’m sorry about that,” he leaned in towards him. “Her mom was the leader of the rebellion, and she was arrested during our last attack.” 

“Oh,” he swallowed. “I heard... The king handed out his first life sentence. Is that…” 

“Yeah,” he nodded. “That’s her.”


	2. Chapter 2

The dark clouds moved slowly across the sky as the sun was setting. Peeking through the clouds the sky was a bright orange that faded into the starry sky above him.

The slow movement always made him feel dizzy. It was like he was the one in movement and he had no idea how to stop it. 

He thought the rocks under him would adjust to his temperature but hours later and it still feels cold against his skin. He was sure the cracks between the intricate design on the ground would be sketched into his arms when he stood up.

Every now and then a drop of water would land on him. He stopped trying to figure out if it was the rain or the result of the fountain next to him. 

When he initially came out the sky was a bright blue that clearly lit up the rose garden interwoven with the stone gates. 

Looking around now everything seemed to have a hint of orange along with the darkness slowly spreading.

“That doesn't look too comfortable,” he heard his sister's voice. 

He turned his neck to see Amber holding her dress up as she carefully stepped around the thorns and pebbles on the ground.

“It’s not,” he closed his eyes as a drop of water landed near his forehead. He pulled himself up, his back aching from laying on the stone pathway for so long. 

Things between him and his sister have always been confusing. 

Growing up TJ was always in classes, in training, or being introduced to people. Everything he did was a lesson on what he could do better. If he tried to goof off he was told that princes don’t behave that way. If he tried to talk to his father about it he was told to go away for not being appreciative. His dad was constantly breathing down his neck asking him to do better. 

Amber, on the other hand, was allowed to do just about anything as long as it didn’t make them look bad. She was given whatever she wanted, she got to go outside and play as she pleased, she was never required to train. Outside of the etiquette classes and formal dinners she didn’t have any responsibility. 

They both envied each other. They don’t talk about it. 

“You look dressed up,” he commented. 

“Thank you,” she looked down at her dress and smoothed out the creases. 

“Are you meeting someone?” He stood up and looked around. “Is that blush?” 

“No, stop,” she put her hands over her cheeks and smiled. “I’m not talking about this with you.” 

“Okay,” he took a step forward and nodded. “But you look very pretty.” 

He exited the fountain area and noticed their knight, his only friend, walking towards them. “Iris?” 

She stopped and looked around before walking towards him. "Prince TJ? They’ve been looking for you for hours.” 

“Exactly,” he kicked his foot. “Is that why you’re here?” 

She glanced toward the fountain area. “Yeah, of course. Why else would I be here?” 

He looked back at his sister waiting by the fountain and the pieces clicked together. “I see,” he clicked his tongue. “I’ll leave you to it.”

“Leave me to what?” She yelled as he walked away. 

He looked up at the castle as he approached it. The grey walls seemed to go on and on until they reached the clouds. 

He was brought right back to that dizzy feeling. 

“Prince TJ,” one of the castle workers called out the door. “Your father has been wondering where you were,” she rushed down the stairs and ushered him through the door. “We all have.” 

“I’m right here,” he moved his shoulder away from where her hand was guiding him. 

“Very funny,” she narrowed her eyes. “And what has happened to your back?” She gasped and quickly went to work brushing him off. “You need to get changed but,” she looked down the hallway. “You don’t have time. Let’s get to it.” 

“I can walk myself,” he took a step to the side as she pushed him along. 

“I’m not so sure,” she opened the door to his father’s throne room. 

The room was silent as he made his way to the center and bowed his head. His hair fell down into his forehead and he closed his eyes. 

The gold pattern laced into the purple carpet by his feet was so familiar to him he could draw it with his eyes closed. 

“Where have you been?” His father’s voice bounced off the walls. 

He bit the inside of his cheek and clenched his fists. 

“I was just out,” he forced his rigid jaw open. 

“I’m not sure where you got the impression that you’re allowed to be out of touch,” he clasped his hands on his stomach and leaned back in his throne. “You have important duties, classes, study time, training.”

“It was my downtime,” he whined. 

He knew the moment he sounded like a child he had lost. 

“You do not have downtime,” he boomed. 

The door opened behind him and his father waved whoever it was away. 

“At least not unmonitored downtime,” he relaxed his shoulders. “Every time I think you’re falling in line and ready to take on more duties you pull something like this. I’m almost ashamed to leave my kingdom to someone so out of their depth.” 

“I’ll be ready,” he looked up at him through the hair in front of his eyes. 

“At this point, the kingdom will fall into chaos, my people will suffer, there might even be an uprisal,” he clicked his tongue. 

“I’ll be ready,” he yelled. 

The knights turned their heads towards him quickly in shock. 

“As you’ve said,” he shook his head. “Yet you still run away like a child when the time comes.” 

He clenched his jaw and closed his eyes. 

“Out of my sight,” he tilted his head up as if it hurt him to look at him. 

More than anything, he hated the audience surrounding them as he walked out.


	3. Chapter 3

Cyrus took a deep breath in and let it out with a sigh as he looked around the town. Across the edge of their land the streets were empty, not a single soul in sight. He squinted through the sheets hung up at the merchant stores and saw there wasn’t a worker on post. 

In this kingdom, the workers were always on post. No one would give up their entire days pay, not even the wealthier few of the kingdom. 

He clenched his jaw and swallowed as he realized what day it was. 

In case of a family members death merchants are to cover their post in black sheets and spend the whole day away from their post. More often than not a merchant will work through the loss as to not lose money out of their pocket. 

Every year he’s somehow surprised at the whole town being filled with black sheets. Every year, despite not wanting to be reminded of that day, he’s hit in the face with it. Every year, on the anniversary of his mother’s death, the merchants all abandon their post. Every year, without fail. 

“You don’t have to come with, Cyrus,” Buffy spoke softly. 

He shook his head quickly and stepped onto the street. He could feel the stinging in his eyes as he pushed back his urge to cry. “I haven’t seen Cece in so long,” his voice moved up and down in pitch as he tried to remain calm. 

Andi grabbed his arm and he came to an abrupt stop. She put a hand on his face and rubbed her thumb against his cheek. “It’s okay,” she whispered. She pulled him into a hug as his stone face crumbled and he cried into her shoulder. 

“I can’t believe I’m doing this in front of everyone,” he forced out between loud sobs. “I should have remembered.”

“It’s not your fault, they’ll understand,” Buffy rubbed his back and looked at Andi with a frown. 

Marty and Walker pulled Jonah aside. “This is another thing you aren’t going to ask about,” they could hear through their hushed conversation. 

Cyrus let out a watery laugh at that and lifted his head. “I wonder if this day is going to ever stop hitting me like this.” 

“I don’t have an answer for you,” Andi smiled at how his voice had come out level. “But we’ll be here, everytime.” 

“Do you want to go inside and lay down?” Buffy put her arm around his shoulder. 

“No,” he kicked the dirt by his feet and smiled sadly. “I want to go.” 

Andi nodded and put her arm around Cyrus’ back too as they continued walking. The group approached a small bridge and quickly rushed past a swarm of bugs attracted to the lake below. The water trickled through the rocks slowly and the air felt thick as they walked over. 

In the park across the brige was a golden statue of the king standing tall above the kingdom. He could taste blood as he looked at it and remembered how much food could be bought with one chunk of that statue. 

“Andi?” Jonah jogged forward to match their pace. “When do I get a shirt?” 

The three of them looked around the group and noticed how Jonah’s white shirt stuck out against their faded yellow shirts. 

“Walker could probably turn the one you’re wearing into a matching set,” she kept her eyes trained on Walker as she spoke to Jonah. 

“Yeah, we can do that,” he interlocked his hand with Andi’s. 

“I can’t,” he rubbed the back of his neck. “This is my only shirt. My moms would kill me.” 

“I’ll make you one tonight,” Walker turned his neck back to give him a reassuring smile. 

“How?” Andi whispered. “We don’t have a shirt to use.” 

“I might have one,” he whispered back. “I’ll figure it out.”

The group came to a stop at the edge of the street. The house in front of them loomed over the neighboring houses. The plants and trees surrounding the house were well taken care of compared to the overgrown tall grass surrounding the rest of the neighborhood. 

Andi walked past the rose bushes framing the entryway and the rest of the group trailed behind her. Before she could raise her hand to knock the door swung open to reveal Andi’s grandmother. 

He wasn’t ready to see the toll Bex’s arrest had on her. The woman who always managed to maintain a perfect hairstyle and professional manner, no matter how low she’s dragged down financially, had knots it’d take hours to get out and red rimmed eyes. 

He shook his head as he remembered the times Bex commented that Cece didn’t care about her. He wished she could see her now. 

She immediately pulled Andi into a hug and smiled at the rest of them over her shoulder. 

“This is Cece,” Walker leaned over to whisper to Jonah. “Andi’s grandmother but don’t call her that.” 

“How are you?” She tucked her hand under Andi’s chin and tilted her face up. 

“I’m alright,” she shrugged. “How are you?” 

“Oh,” she waved her hand. “Who is this?” She looked past them and smiled at Jonah. 

“This is Jonah,” she put her hand on his shoulder. “Our newest member.” 

“I see,” she pursed her lips as she returned the handshake. “Andi, you know how I feel about that,” her voice came off stern. 

“I know,” she pursed her lips. 

She put her arms on her shoulders. “I have no idea what I’d do if I lost you too.” 

“You won’t,” she squirmed out of her grasp. “We won’t do anything big until they’re back.” 

“Back?” She shook her head. “Andi they aren’t…” Her sentence trailed off as she realized. “What are you planning?” Her voice grew fearful.

Andi turned to look back at Buffy and nodded. 

“It was good seeing you, Cece,” Buffy quickly stepped up to pull her into a hug. “We’ll leave you two to it now.” 

“You stay safe too,” she whispered. “All of you.” 

“You’ve got it,” she nodded and led the group down the path. 

“That was short,” Jonah looked to him with furrowed brows. 

Across the street Cyrus noticed a woman was crying desperately on the newly installed bench dedicated to victims of starvation. 

“We normally visit for a couple minutes and leave her to it,” Marty spoke up for him. 

“Usually we stay a little bit longer but things seemed a little….” Walker cleared his throat as he thought of a good way to put it. “Tense.” 

Cyrus shook his head as he looked around. She had her hand over her mouth muffling her cries as she tucked flowers into the bench. 

If he were king the very first thing he would do would be to hold a huge banquet for everyone in the town. They could eat however much they wanted, and then more. 

“You can understand where she’s coming from though, right?” Buffy asked him. 

“Yeah,” he looked down. 

Of course, none of them started off that way. 

Despite Cece growing up better off than most within the city. Most of the kids within the town start off believing we can change things only to grow up to fall victim to the system. She’s not alone in the belief that things can be changed from the inside. 

“What made you want to join?” Cyrus broke his silence. 

He swallowed. “After seeing everything that happened to my family,” he closed his eyes and stopped walking. “My baby sister,” he sighed. “I look at her and I can’t stand the idea of her going through what we’re all going through,” he looked around at everyone staring at him and continued walking. 

“Andi has something in the works,” Walker put his arm around him as they walked. “We won’t be standing still for long.” 

“What does she have planned?” He jogged up to him. 

“You’ll know soon enough.” He ruffled his hair. 

Marty caught up to Buffy and tapped her on the shoulder as he ran past her. She narrowed her eyes and jumped into a sprint. 

“Oh come on,” he said. “Do you think it’ll change anything?” Jonah crossed his arms as he walked. 

“I wish I could say yes for sure,” Walker shrugged. 

He walked past a street cleaner scouring the streets for any sign of garbage. 

A quick glance at this town and you’d think we’re so lucky. The gold statues, the beautiful architecture, the spotless streets. 

“What about the prince?” Jonah glanced over at the statue of the king with his children. 

“TJ?” He spoke absentmindedly.

You’d miss the amount of murderers on the street because letting them starve is cheaper than housing them in the dungeon, the mothers who don’t eat just to make sure their kids are fed, the way those few who managed to work their way up to wealth hold it over their heads. 

“Yeah, I think that’s his name,” Jonah shrugged. 

_“My beautiful boy,” his mother cried._

_Her hands were shaking as she held him in her arms and rocked back and forth. He had never seen her cry before._

_“Did something happen, mom?” ___

__He didn’t look up at her and he wished he had. He wished he memorized every inch of her face._ _

__He stopped glancing around the town to look at Jonah. “Nothing is going to change unless we take the whole family down and leave everything crumbling in its place,” he clenched his jaw and huffed his chest._ _

__“That’s a little pessimistic,” he looked around and let out a quick laugh._ _

__“They’re monsters, all of them. They’re well closer to the situation than I am, they know the problems with the town, they have influence. I just don’t see the point in holding out hope for change when we’ve been disappointed time and time again.”_ _

__“Yeah, but he could be different,” he rubbed his arm. “I mean, he’s a kid.”_ _

__He looked up at him with venom in his eyes. “Did you know my mom went to the kingdom to beg for food? She refused to let me miss a meal, and that meant she missed all of them. She died right in front of me because they couldn’t spare any food for her. No, couldn’t is a bad word, they refused.”_ _

__His mouth hung open as it hit him. “I’m sorry.”_ _

__“Bex found me. Took me in,” he refused to look away from him as he continued. “She told me about how she held that same belief, that the next king could be different. Her mother always told her about the great work she was doing to change things and how she really believed that once the king had passed away, things would change.”_ _

__“And now?” He looked uncomfortable under his gaze._ _

__“And now,” he gestured to the statue. “Look where that got us.”_ _


End file.
